Hercules Bay

Date: December 7, 2022

We arrived in Hercules Bay on what later turned to be our last day in South Georgia. We left South Georgia one day ahead of the plan, mostly because the aggressive fur seal males made it impossible to go ashore in most places including Hercules Bay.

Here are some of the other passengers stading on the deck of Fram and taking photos of the surrounding mountains:

Here is a photo showing another part of the bay with a long waterfall:

Even though a landing was not possible because of the fur seals, we were not prevented from gettig a closer look at the wildlife, only it had to take place as a cruise in the inflatable tenders. Here is the crane hoisting down the black tenders from the upper deck:

A view from our tender towards one of the other ones that were out at the same time as us. The water in Hercules Bay had the azure blue color that we mostly associate with tropical water:

One of the most interesting things we saw was a colony of macaroni penguins, so named due to the long, bright, yellow feathers covering their heads.

Macaroni penguins look very much like the rockhopper penguins we saw on the Falkland Islands but the macaroni penguins don't seem to be as great at jumping and they have a lot more yellow feathers on their heads, sometimes almost forming a mohawk:

The waters around South Georgia are full of clumps of very long greenish-brown seaweed, attached to the bottom with the leaf-like parts floating to the surface:

The steep bank and the seaweed make it quite difficult for animals to crawl out of the water but here is a fur seal that finally managed the jump after a few unsuccessful attempts:

A tiny beach surrounded by high cliffs. A few seals are just visible on the beach:

Nex, we moved over to another, larger beach with breeding seals at the waterfall:

Two seals on the cliff with another large clump of seaweed in the foreground: